host: next will go to build in washington d.c. . bill in washington d.c.. caller: my question goes to a sidebar on the campaign contributions. there were a lot of ads on national tv, favoring democrats and republicans, but it wasn't supported by the president or the governor. these contributions, are they given to these companies to address their opinion, but not directly from or approved by the president or the governor? guest: yes, the caller is getting too -- this is really the definition of outside spending. there are basically three categories of campaign hats. if i can oversimplify here, but one would be the ads that uc -- you see an ad from the candidates that comes on and says "i approve this message" and that is clearly from their campaign. the second category, and you have seen this explosion, and they are directly for the candidates. they will say candidate x is terrible and cavate why is awful. -- candidate y is awful. these are coming from outside organizations. this is nearly $1.4 billion in outside spending. they are directly advocating for a